


Detective Karol and the Serial Stalker!

by SkyWrites



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Dahngrest, Detective Noir, F/F, Friendship, Humor, Mystery, POV First Person, POV Karol, Post-Canon, Romance, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26588050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrites/pseuds/SkyWrites
Summary: Hi there! My name's Karol Capel and I'm the leader of Brave Vesperia!On a dark rainy night, Rita shows up at my office in Dahngrest with a harrowing mystery! It seems she's been having problems with a stalker?Only I can help her now! This could potentially be my toughest job yet! Will I be able to do it?Of course I can!!! But you should still read to find out how amazing I am!
Relationships: Estellise Sidos Heurassein/Rita Mordio, Karol Capel & Rita Mordio
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	Detective Karol and the Serial Stalker!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theguineapig3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theguineapig3/gifts).



> Written as a kind of request by my good friend theguineapig3! 
> 
> Can you solve this ULTRA difficult mystery before Rita and Karol can? 
> 
> Oh, I know, dear reader. It will be hard. But I think you might be able to.

Rain poured in sheets on to Dahngrest, soaking the crowded city to its core. Lamps glowed with golden warmth, promising peace and comfort to all who walked its slippery streets but sometimes a promise was nothing more than that. A promise.

I wanted to be more than that. I wanted to be more than just a promise. I would be warmer than a lamp. I smoked the bubble pipe that Yuri got me, pondering my deep feelings as I watched the lights splash and ripple against the cobblestone. From my office window, I got a pretty good view of the city. The people of Dahngrest were tough. Most of them didn’t need umbrellas. They didn’t care about a little rain.

Or maybe they just couldn’t afford any of that stuff. I know I certainly didn’t just have umbrella money laying around. Not that I needed it or wanted one! I actually really liked jumping into those big puddles! Although, if I did have one, maybe I could share one with Nan…

_Knock knock!_

I screamed and dropped my bubble pipe somewhere beneath the desk. “Who’s there?!”

“It’s me!” a sharp voice shouted.

That didn’t answer my question! “Me who!?” And my pipe! It really made me look like a guild leader! Agh, why did we keep the lights so dim? Sure, the atmosphere was amazing, and it _did_ save on bills… Without Blastia anymore, we had the new mana energy, but it was pretty expensive and…

Oh! My bubble pipe! I found it!

“Open the door before I blast it open!”

I screamed again and dropped it somewhere else.

“I think we should probably open the door, Captain Karol,” Yuri said casually, lounging on our sofa that was originally meant for guests. I had to get a couple more chairs because Yuri was always in it.

“Can you get the door for me?” I asked. I needed my pipe! First impressions were really important!

“Sure thing, boss.” Yuri hopped up to his feet and opened the door. “Ah. Just in time. You might wanna cancel the fireball spell now.”

“Sure, about that?!” said a familiar angry voice. Rita. Of course… “I have half a mind to keep casting it right into your office for making me wait so long!”

“Captain Karol’s very busy as you can assume,” Yuri said, and I could somehow _hear_ him shrug.

“Aha! Got it!” I yelled, jumping up. “Ow!” I hit my head and jostled a few of the papers on my desk I’d placed to make me look more professional.

“Do I seriously need to talk to him?” Rita asked with a sigh. I might have just hurt my head, but the pain mostly came from my wounded feelings! “Let me just talk to you, all right?”

“Is it about a job?” Yuri asked seriously.

“Yes.”

Yuri flopped down onto his sofa so fast that I wasn’t even sure when he got there. “Then you talk to Karol.”

I hopped up in front of my desk, pipe bubbling, hands clasped tightly, smiling wide for my potential customer.

“Ugh…” Rita groaned. “Fine. Whatever. I have a job for Brave Vesperia.”

She walked in and shook the dark rain that clung to her robes. Her legs almost went up to my desk? Hm. Maybe a little less? I needed my ruler… did her legs grow at all?

“What the hell are you doing,” Rita asked, a very real burning in her voice.

“I’m trying to measure your legs,” I assured her. “Stop-ow-stop hitting me!”

“ _Why_ are you doing something so idiotic!?” Rita asked. I heard Yuri stifle a giggle.

“Everyone knows that a grizzled guild leader is supposed to measure their female client’s leg height! (Or ‘dames’ as they’re called in the business.)” I said. Seriously. She was supposed to be a genius and she didn’t know this? “It’s so I can get you a chair that fits you for maximum comfort!”

“There’s about to be a murder mystery to solve, and spoilers, I’m going to be the murderer and you’re going to be the victim.” Rita glared at the lounging Yuri. “Are you the one who told him that?”

“Yep,” Yuri said without missing a beat. “Little guy’s all about height, you know, growing boy and all that. Legs up to here and whatever.” Yuri held out a hand just barely above the floor, but he wasn’t even trying not to laugh anymore. “Raven reminded us about the ‘dame’ bit though.” 

Rita bonked my head one final time and I just offered her one of our standard height chairs since she was being so incredibly rude. “I’m regretting this already.”

“No, wait, c’mon, I promise I can do this!” I said, trying to shuffle my nearly blank papers in an attempt to win her over. “Tell me what you need, Rita! Brave Vesperia is extremely busy,” I lied, “But we’ll drop everything for you!” Repede barked at something outside the window and I dropped everything all over the floor again.

“I should seriously just ask some other guild,” Rita said with that terrifying glare of hers that could probably kill babies. I know she took care of a baby already, but I don’t know if she ever glared at one.

“Don’t be like that, Rita,” Yuri said, finally weighing in. “Why not at least tell us before you go, huh? That’d be the most logical thing to do.”

I nodded quickly. “That’s right! You came all the way here. It’d be a waste to not at least try, right? Scientifically speaking, you’d be able to gather the most data if you at least heard our response!”

Wait a minute, hm… I don’t think we’re usually supposed to beg the client for help, are we…?

“Fine, fine,” Rita sighed. I won her over! Yes!

“Woohoo!” I said, pumping my fists into the air. Rita did that killer glare again and I sat down, clearing my throat. “Er. Ahem. So. Tell me what Brave Vesperia can do for you. What seems to be the problem?”

Rita’s glare instantly faltered, like I had upset her by just asking. Like she didn’t want to remember. She looked to the rain speckled window but didn’t quite look out into the city. “Um. I guess the thing is, I don’t know much about this problem.”

Rita not knowing much? Now that didn’t seem normal. It was certainly a problem, too.

“Hey, whatever it is, you can tell us,” Yuri said, his usual playful tone gone. “We’ll help you, Rita. Promise.”

Rita closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She was seriously having trouble saying it. I actually felt bad for her! And she had just bonked me multiple times!

“I think I might have a stalker,” Rita finally said. The words came out like a sigh, like an ancient curse. Once spoken, it became all too real to her.

“This is more serious than I thought,” I said. Yuri nodded, sitting upright for once. “You sound like you’re unsure though. Can you give us any details?” I paused. “Not that I’m doubting you or anything!” I wanted to be clear Brave Vesperia trusted her!

“I’ve been…” Rita’s face turned a weird shade of red, a mix of embarrassment, anger, and confusion. “I’ve been getting weird letters and gifts left for me. The gifts and the letters never say who its from.”

At that Yuri raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t normally one to take over a situation for me, but something caught his attention. “And what exactly did those letters say? What were the gifts?”

Huh! What was with his tone!? This is why I do the talking here! Rita flinched at the request. Yuri already sounded like he was doubting her! Maybe not doubting _yet_. He was still taking this seriously so far, but I got the impression he wouldn’t for long.

“I brought a few of the letters and some of the gifts here, just in case,” Rita said quietly, embarrassed.

“Hey, it’s okay, you can tell us,” I said. “We won’t judge.” That was also an order to Yuri.

“Erm…” Rita pulled out a few letters and dropped them on my desk. Many of them were pink with little flowery frills all over them. Whoever wrote these spared no expense! “This isn’t even all of them. I get so many. Almost every day.”

Yuri picked up one single card and glanced over it. “Uh huh.” He stared at Rita like she was crazy! What was his problem?! This isn’t how you treat a client!

I read through a few of the letters on my own. I wanted to get into the head of this stalker.

_Good morning, Rita! You’ve been working hard lately. Make sure you take a break!_

_Hello, Rita! This is your daily reminder that you’re a wonderful person! Have a good day!_

_How are you, Rita? Have you eaten today? I had these cookies specially made from Dahngrest for you! Make sure you remember to eat!_

_Hi, Rita! Me again! You looked really cute today so I bought you something that might make you look even cuter! I hope you like it._

And they just… went on like that. Rita’s face was as red as a Blastia. She couldn’t even bear to look at the letters! Poor girl. “Here’s some cookies that person sent me.” She placed a cute box on the desk. Inside were all sorts of cookies shaped like kitties and frosted with different chocolate fur. “And, uh, they also sent me this.” Rita plopped a kitty headband onto the desk.

“Right.” Yuri said, still staring at our client like she had lost her mind. What was his deal?! I had half a mind to tell him to go watch over Raven!

I quickly jumped in to fix Yuri’s mistake. “Do you have any idea who might be sending these letters, Rita?”

Rita practically screamed at me. She clutched at her robes. “No! Not a clue! It doesn’t make any sense! I’ve been staying at Zaphias Castle since Aspio got destroyed! I’ve barely told _anyone_ where I’m staying!”

Yuri stared at her blankly.

I sighed and tried to bring attention to myself. I put together the possible evidence and asked, “Do you think it could possibly be Estelle sending you all this stuff?”

Rita nearly toppled out of her chair for some reason. “Are you stupid?! Why would _Estelle_ send me all this?! That doesn’t make _any_ sense!” She yelled so loud; she was nearly breathless!

I held out my hands defensively, just in case she decided to lob a fireball my way. “Sorry! I’m sorry! I was just trying to think through all possibilities! Estelle likes you and all, so I thought—”

“SHUT UP!” Rita screamed, her goggles somehow fogging up even on her head. “I told you there’s NO WAY that’s possible! It wouldn’t make any sense! Why would she send letters to me when she’s also in Zaphias Castle with me?!”

I gulped. “I-I guess you make a good point…” The customer is always right… the customer is always right… I shouldn’t doubt her! She came to me for help. Brave Vesperia always helps with those in need! I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Rita. I’m too biased. I’ll try to think of this from a different perspective.”

“Good!” Rita said, sounding a little appeased with that.

I looked over the cute cookies shaped like all sorts of kitties and paw pads. My mind raced. I looked back at Rita. “Did you eat any of these yet!?”

“What kind of question is that?” Rita crossed her arms. “Of course not!”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good! We don’t know if they’re poisoned or not.”

Yuri broke his unusually long silence with another snicker.

That was the last straw. “Is something funny to you, Yuri?!” I asked, hands at my hips. I was the guild leader, dang it! He had to respect our clients!

“No, sorry,” Yuri said, wiping a tear from his eye. “I just thought of… a joke that Raven told me.” He was clearly lying, but for once, I was glad he was. “You know, I get the feeling I won’t be much help on this case. You mind if I leave it to you, boss?”

Of course, it was okay with me! He was making a mockery of Rita’s request! But at least he seemed aware of his mistakes, so I wouldn’t punish him. “Yeah. I think I’ll handle this one, Yuri.”

Rita nodded. “You know, I can’t believe I’m siding with the brat, but I think I would rather he leads the case if you’re gonna be that way, Yuri!” She probably would have been fuming if I hadn’t stepped in and said what I said.

“Hey, that’s why he’s the boss, y’know?” Yuri said as he waltzed through the office door. “You guys know how to find me if you need help.” He waved at us lazily.

“Yeah, we’ll be sure to look through all the SEWER grates for you!” Rita yelled after him. I heard another light laugh waft through the rain outside. Oh, Yuri… We needed to have a serious talk when this case was over.

I placed my hands on the desk. “I apologize on behalf of my employee. I swear to you, Rita, Brave Vesperia _will_ take your request seriously and we _will_ catch your stalker.”

For the first time in my life, I think Rita actually smiled at me. It wasn’t much of a smile. More like a weird twitch on her lips. And the glare from her eyes would probably only hurt an infant’s feelings. Still. That was the most I’d ever gotten from her!

I think she actually trusted me!

* * *

“You really think it’ll be that easy?” Rita asked grumpily, the rain sticking to her hair like it would a stray cat’s fur.

“Positive!” I reassured her, stepping into the warm glow of one of Dahngrest’s bakeries. Baked breads and sugary sweet smells wafted into my nose and I sighed. I always loved the smell of pastries! “I know Dahngrest like I know the contents of my big bag!” I shuffled through its contents, trying to get some gald ready. “Huh, that’s new. Why is one of Repede’s bones in here?” Oh. He was probably trying to hide it.

“I feel better already,” Rita said sarcastically, but even I could tell she was enjoying the smell here!

“And you said you got the cookies today, right?”

“Yeah. Judith came by for some errand and I asked her to take me to Dahngrest since it was on her way back.”

I put my thinking boy cap on. Metaphorically speaking. “Do you think Judith could be the stalker?” She’d know where Rita was staying after all.

Rita shrugged. “Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her to mess with me like this, but its been going on for so long and I figured she’d get bored after a while.”

“Did you tell her about your problem at all? Did she bring it up?”

Rita shook her head. “I didn’t say anything about it and neither did she which is why I don’t think it could be her.”

Very good point. Judith was mischievous, Judith was a troublemaker, but I didn’t think she’d be the type to keep bothering Rita if there wasn’t any visible payout in it for her.

“Hey there, Karol,” Troy, the baker, said. He had just come out of the back, bits of flour on his apron and a tray of yummy looking pastries in his hands. Chocolate covered and probably cream-filled, warm and gooey mixed with a delicious cool creamy center… No! Resist! You’re on a job, Karol! “The usual?”

“No thank you, Troy, it’s a bit too late for sweets for me,” I said. “Plus, I’m on a job!”

His eyes lit up. “That so? Good for you. I know you’ve been desperately trying to get anyone to take you on lately!”

I coughed, trying to motion that Rita was my client and she didn’t need to hear that. Troy took the hint and put his freshly baked goods on display. It may have been night, but Dahngrest sported lots of people awake and working at all sorts of different times. It was nice to have a place open so late.

Rita leaned in and whispered in my ear, “What’s with this guy? Why’s his voice sound so familiar?”

“Yeah, I know, but don’t worry about it,” I replied, trying to stay focused.

I placed the box of cookies on the glass counter before him. I made sure to stand tall and look up at him in the eye. I don’t think Troy was the type to poison anybody, but I couldn’t be too sure.

“Did you make these cookies, Troy?”

Troy stared at them for a second, then at me and Rita. He frowned. “Yeah, I made ‘em. Why? Something wrong with ‘em? You two are lookin’ at me like I poisoned ‘em or something!”

I raised my eyebrow very cooly like a guild boss should. I placed my elbow on the counter, thanking the stars that I was just tall enough to do that. “Did you?” This is what they call a ‘gotcha’ moment!

At that, Troy lost his cool. All pretenses of customer interaction flew out the window. Luckily, no one else was here. “What are you talkin’ about, kid?! I known you all these years, Karol, and you think I’d do something as stupid as poison my cookies and then admit to making them?!”

Hm. That… was a good point. I felt bad about this almost right away. Geez.

“Aw, Troy, I’m really sorry, I’m-I’m just trying to help my client, I didn’t mean to insult-”

Rita grumbled behind me, “You gave up on that quick.” Aw, man! No matter what I did, I couldn’t win!

Troy sighed. “It’s okay, Karol. You’re young. I can tell you’re just playing pretend with your friend there.”

“It’s NOT pretend!” We shouted at the same time. Huh. Rita was really in sync with me!

Troy held up his hands defensively. “Okay okay, sheesh. But I didn’t poison any cookies, that’d be insane.”

The cookies could still be poisoned! But not by Troy probably. I wasn’t done yet!

“Do you know who ordered these cookies? There’s not some kind of client-baker confidentiality is there?”

Troy laughed and waved it off. “No. There’s not. And if there was, I wouldn’t care.” He shrugged. “Anyways, yeah, I remember who bought these cookies. It’d be hard to forget! Plus, that’s some of my finest custom work if I do say so myself.”

“Could you tell us about that customer?” I asked, excited to get such a great clue.

“I could,” Troy said stretching his neck and looking generally aloof suddenly. “But it’d certainly help if you were a paying customer.”

I sighed. I slid a few hundred gald his way. “Take it. Think of it as a tip. You do good work around here, Troy.”

“Thanks, Karol!” Troy’s personality seemed to change, all too pleased with himself. “Like I said, it’d be hard to forget her.”

“Her?” I repeated. Gender wasn’t all encompassing, of course, but it was still useful information in tracking down a potential stalker maybe!

“Yeah, this lady was as fancy as all get out!” Troy said excitedly. This was clearly the highlight of his day. “Came in with a couple of weirdo knights and everything! The other customers were a bit on edge, you know how the guilds and the knights are.”

I nodded.

“But this lady, sweetest thing I ever did see! I don’t think you’d even get a drop of malice out of this girl if you squeezed her like a sponge!”

Weird analogy but okay. I tried to keep Troy on topic since it was clearly slow in the shop right now and he must have been feeling lonely. “Did she give you a name?”

Troy put a hand on his chin. “You know, now that you mention it…” I gulped. A break in the case!? “She didn’t! Weird. I usually ask for peoples’ names, especially for a big order like hers, but I knew I wouldn’t forget her.”

Agh… Rita was uncomfortably quiet, too. It seemed this whole thing was bothering her more than she let on.

“Can you give us any more details?” I asked desperately. Not that this wasn’t helpful! But solid evidence is what Rita needed.

“Yeah, yeah!” Troy said happily. “I remember now. She said these cookies were a gift for a girl!” He looked at Rita. “Are you the lucky lady?”

“Huh?” Rita looked around like there could have been anyone else in the bakery that fit Troy’s description. “I-I mean, I guess?”

Troy laughed. “Ha! You must be the way you’re actin’! You know, I had a feeling that girl was sweet on someone the way she talked about you. She must really like you, miss!”

Rita didn’t say anything. It didn’t look like she _could_ say anything. Troy didn’t know we were dealing with a potential stalker here, but I didn’t want to kill his mood.

“Anyways, that’s about all I know.” He looked over to me. “You sure you fellas don’t already know who this lady is? She certainly seemed to know that girl over there.”

“That’s actually just what we’re trying to find out, sir,” I said with a nod.

“Ahhh.” He nodded and smirked. “A secret admirer, huh? Now ain’t that sweet? Personally, the way this girlie was actin’ it didn’t seem like a secret at all, but what do I know, eh? In fact, I’d say you could probably see her love for that little miss a mile away!”

Rita squirmed in silence. She couldn’t take it! Ah, geez.

“Troy, please,” I whispered. It was clearly upsetting her. He blinked, somehow not understanding this. I cleared my throat. “Well! Thank you very much. You’ve been incredibly helpful.”

“Hey, you’re welcome, Karol! This has been a great time. I hope you find your lover girl, miss!” He waved at Rita who could barely even respond with anything more than a strange grunt. “Make sure you eat them cookies! They’re my best work!”

* * *

We returned to the slippery streets of Dahngrest. Rita clearly wanted to leave, and I wasn’t about to keep my client in distress. I asked her if she wanted anything to eat, but she just shook her head. This whole thing really was bothering her so much wasn’t it…?

This case wasn’t about the money anymore! I had to help Rita!

“So…” I said, trying to break through Rita’s dark thoughts. “A fancy girl with two imperial knights at her side… It has to be someone from Zaphias then, right?”

Rita nodded. “Yeah,” she said finally, breaking the silence.

“It makes sense!” I said, pointing up towards the dark rainclouds. We made sure to walk along the awnings and rooves of Dahngrest’s buildings, avoiding most of the rain’s fury. “That’s how your mysterious stalker would know where you are since you’re also in Zaphias!”

Rita gulped. “Yeah. I guess so.” She stared out into a particularly shiny puddle. The world in the puddle reflected and rippled frantically, like a pounding heart.

I put my hands behind my head, feeling particularly proud of myself. “Okay, so, I know you already said no, but hear me out…” I looked over to Rita with a grin. “What if it really _is_ Estelle?”

Steam rose out of her head as the rain around her seemed to boil. “I _told_ you! There’s NO way it’s Estelle! It doesn’t make ANY sense! Are you stupid!? It’s NOT Estelle! It’s NOT! It can’t be!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” I said back, trying to calm her down. At least she wasn’t looking as defeated, but I wasn’t sure if this was much of an improvement. Okay, so, if it wasn’t Estelle… what were the other options? “Maybe it was a knight? Or some other member of royalty? Can you remember if anyone at the castle interacted with you in a weird way?”

Rita shook her head, beads of rain flying off her at lightspeed. “No. No, I almost never talk to any of the knights except Flynn, and even then, it’s not much.”

I needed to really think over every possibility. This was a tough case to crack. “Do you think the baker could have talked with Flynn?”

“What?” Rita’s irritated glare was back but that just meant she was feeling better. “That baker said it was a girl!”

“You never know! I think it’s possible to mistake Flynn for a girl. Maybe. Sort of.” My voice died away. Not really. “W-we should keep an open mind…”

“I agree for once, but I don’t think Flynn has any plans to be a woman, Karol,” Rita said sternly.

“Hey, c’mon!” I said, absolutely NOT pouting. “I’m trying my best here!”

“I think,” Rita went on, “Realistically, there’s a better chance its some weird rich person.”

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted. If there was no way for it to be Estelle, that was the next best guess. But how would we ever find out? We’d need some kind of wild card.

In a distant alleyway, a wild creature stirred in damp shadows. It was curled up, almost cute, but everyone in the city knew better than to mess with it. We were near Brave Vesperia’s offices again, so it made sense to be here.

Wild… wild… that’s it!

“Repede!” I called out to the tough dog who napped wherever he wanted. I ran over to him. Repede simply lifted his head lazily to give us a few sniffs.

“Are you seriously getting distracted that easily over your own dog?” Rita huffed. She kept her distance from Repede, but she still knelt down closer than she would ever get with any human.

“Of course not!” I said, grinning. “If what the baker said was true, then there’s a good chance your mysterious stalker is still in Dahngrest right at this very moment!”

Rita’s eyes widened for a second. She knew I was right! But she didn’t seem to want to admit it. “I guess that’s true.” She was lost deep in thought. Even going so far as to pet Repede’s fluffy coat! Wow, she really must not have been paying much attention if she was giving Repede affection.

Repede looked to her with a tilt of his head, clearly concerned with Rita as well. He sighed and decided he’d allow her to continue petting for now. He turned his gaze to me, as if to say, _‘Well? What do you want? I am very busy.’_

“I think we could use Repede’s amazing nose to sniff out your stalker! He could lead us right to them!” I said, patting Repede on the head. Again, he allowed me to, but I saw the way his eye glowed in the dark rainy lamplight. _‘I like this. Don’t push your luck.’_

“I, um, suppose I never thought of that,” Rita admitted. Really? How strange. Was she even trying to solve this mystery?

“Here, give me that kitty headband,” I said, holding my hand out to Rita.

Rita complied easily enough, placing the cute thing in my hand. “D-don’t mess it up.”

Weird. I could swear she was growing attached to this stuff. The stalker was really getting to her. I held the cat headband before Repede. “Here, boy, can you sniff out who bought this?”

His nostrils flared for a second. Repede’s ears flicked and he blinked his lone eye. It was clearly familiar to him. He showed no signs of aggression which is rare for Repede. He looked back at me, like, ‘ _What am I meant to do with this?’_

I frowned. I tried to put it back into his attention. “The scent! Can you follow it, Repede?”

Repede wouldn’t even smell it anymore. It disinterested him, like he knew it too well. He yawned in my face. ‘ _I can. I won’t.’_

“Agh, Repede…” I sighed. I gave the headband back to Rita who quickly stuffed it back into her robe, brushing away any potential fur or rain that might have touched it. “Maybe we need something more interesting to him. The cookies?”

“Oh. Sure. Maybe.” Rita took out the box once more.

I broke off a piece of one of the paw pad cookies. Rita visibly flinched at that. Sheesh! I thought she was scared of the stalker’s gifts? Repede had already gone back to lazing.

“Here, Repede, how about this? Will you sniff out who bought this?” I held out the cookie and Repede quickly brought his head back up, attention at full force for once.

Yes! It was working!

Repede’s nostrils flared over and over, sniffing the cookie in my hand so much it almost tickled. He must have been really getting all the clues he needed to find the stalker! Repede would solve this case in a flash!

And just like a flash, his lone eye shone greedily. With a grunt, he snapped up the cookie right out of my hand and devoured it in almost one gulp.

Rita and I both screamed in unison at the top of our lungs.

* * *

“Calm down, calm down, what’s wrong?!” Yuri said, his usual lounging ruined by the sound of my sobbing.

I couldn’t help it! I felt awful! I was so stupid! What was I thinking?!

“I-I-I,” I tried to say, but I was crying so much I could barely get it out of my throat. I was so ashamed and scared and-

“Karol!” Yuri put his hands on my shoulders. “Deep breaths. Come on!” He looked to Rita. “Rita! What happened?”

“We, um, we…” She gulped, for once looking ashamed as well. “W-we screwed up.”

“Just tell me!”

I finally let it all out in one breath. “I accidently gave Repede a piece of cookie! I didn’t mean to! I tried to get it out of his mouth, but you know how scary he gets and and the cookie had chocolate on it too I didn’tmeantowewerejusttryingtogethishelp and what if there’s poison? Chocolate is already poisonous to dogs as it is and…

Yuri’s face froze in confusion. “Wait. What. Is that what really it?”

“I’m so sorry! We should get Repede to a vet right away, but he just went back to sleep like it was no big deal and I didn’t know what to do so I ran back here and…”

Yuri sighed, his usual smirk already back. “It’s _fine_ , Captain Karol. As long as Repede didn’t get into the entire box.”

“He didn’t!” Rita assured us.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Karol, just clean up any mess Repede might make. Don’t worry.”

“B-b-but!” I went on. Yuri never worried about anything! He could get stabbed and fall into the ocean and he’d be like, ‘ _whatever_.’ “What if it was poisoned!? Yuri!”

“The cookies _weren’t_ poisoned, guys.” Yuri put his hands on his face.

“How can you be so sure?!” I retorted. Where was his evidence!? He acted like he was so smart but sometimes he was kind of stupid! Even Rita looked like she was agreeing with me.

“Geez, are you guys serious?” Yuri sighed and fell back into the sofa. “Listen. I know who sent the cookies. She didn’t poison them. I am 100% sure. Repede is fine.”

She!? So Yuri really did know?! Rita and I both must have had our mouths agape the way Yuri was grinning.

“You know who the stalker is?! Who is it?!”

“Don’t wanna spoil it for you,” Yuri said with a yawn, just like Repede. Like dog like owner I suppose.

I felt the last of my sniffles leaving my nose as my anger rose over my sadness. “What?! Yuri! This isn’t a game!” Was he trying to get me worked up?! It was working! Although, at least I wasn’t crying anymore.

“Eh,” was all Yuri said before turning to the side on his sofa. “I’m sure you two can figure this one out. Why don’t you take a walk and clear your heads, huh?”

I turned to Rita. She should be furious with him! But she just had her arms crossed and was staring at the window again. Argh! I was so frustrated!

“Fine! Fine! Maybe that’s just what we need,” I admitted. A bit of fresh rainy air would do my face good what with the embarrassing sobbing and all that.

“Make sure you walk through the marketplace, okay?” Yuri said, still facing away from us. “You know. You take a left down the street. Take another left there. The one that sells the tourist junk.”

I tilted my head. “Huh? Why? Do you need something?”

“Nope. Just go there. It’ll be good for you. Go on, Captain Karol. You’ve got a mystery to solve.”

I blinked. I didn’t know what he was trying to say, but he was right. Nothing was going to get solved sitting around in the office again. I pulled at Rita’s sash and tugged her along behind me, worried by the fact that she was just going along with it and not hitting me on the head repeatedly for doing such a thing.

* * *

We took another walk through the rainy streets of Dahngrest. The cool air was refreshing against my hot tear-soaked cheeks. What? I’m allowed to cry! True men wear their emotions on their sleeves! That being said, I was definitely done crying and hoped Rita and Yuri would never bring it up ever again. Rita was pretty upset about the whole Repede thing too, so she must have known better than to try it against me. I had ammunition.

But none of that was important anymore! Apparently Repede was fine? Yuri wasn’t exactly the best pet owner, but I trusted him on this. Just like I trusted him when he said to go to the marketplace. He had his reasons.

Even during a downpour, the marketplace in Dahngrest still hustled and bustled. All sorts of stalls were set up with vendors yelling to buy their wares! Buy their apple gels, buy their Blastia-less watches, buy this shirt that says, _‘I survived the apocalypse and all I got was this lousy shirt!’_ Ooh, that was a good one! I had to get one of those! Yuri would love it!

“Focus, will you!?” Rita yelled, pulling me by the collar away from the funny shirts. Aw, man…

But she was right! I couldn’t get distracted by the crowd or the shiny trinkets or the—OH! Was that a new hammer?! I gasped. It was a plastic blow up hammer that squeaked when it hit something! I had to—

“C-come on, stop trying to run off, will you?!” Rita said, pulling me back to her. “I seriously hate crowds, all right? It’d be so easy to lose you and then I’d have absolutely no idea where I was going…”

!!! She was frowning! Wow! Rita looked like she was actually afraid of something! Amazing! I wasn’t afraid of this crowd at all! In fact, I felt so at ease! I could duck and dive between everyone, slide between their sides, and even wave ‘hello’ to some friendly faces!

Rita, though, walked like a stiff board. She struggled to get by people who had slowed down on the road or had stopped completely. She grunted, she tried to sidle by, but she just bumped into a trader on their cart of goods. Then she bumped into some family that was trying to corral their kid. Her hair stood on end and she gulped. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to react.

“Don’t worry, Rita, I’ll get us to a less crowded spot!” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along under the stall’s awnings.

“I’m not worrying! Don’t hold my hand, idiot!” Rita shouted back, gripping my hand tighter as I squeezed the two of us under a particularly beefy guy trying to buy a whole rack of swords. Rita didn’t like ducking under that, but the point is, I got her through and didn’t give her time to doubt her movements.

That’s the thing about Dahngrest! You have to keep moving. Just keep moving. No one will notice you; no one will care. Sometimes it felt a little lonely, but other times it felt like a huge hub of people that thought just like you! I, personally, lean towards the latter of that nowadays.

What did any of this have to do with our mystery stalker? I still didn’t know. But that wasn’t important! Just keep moving. Move through the crowd in the most efficient way for Rita! For your client! There were a few times she tried to dig her heels into the ground like a stubborn cat, but if there’s one thing I know, sometimes the best thing to do for a scared animal is to just keep them focused on the task ahead.

I think Rita really appreciated that in her own way. It wasn’t long before she was ducking under arms, stepping over muddy boxes, and ignoring the glares and yells by vendors and customers alike. I was so proud of her!

When we made it to the slightly less crowded section of the marketplace, I skidded to a stop. Rita slammed into me so hard she got the breath knocked out of her. She wasn’t happy about that. Oops. But luckily, she actually had some room to move her arms here. She could stand more than one foot away from me. Once she found out, she quickly dislodged our hands, glaring at me in that oh-so-Rita way.

This was the tourist section of the marketplace. It was still packed, don’t get me wrong! But most of the true Dahngrest citizens felt no need to hang around in a tacky place like this. The trinkets were overpriced, usually fairly useless, and tourists in general just bothered people.

!!! Wait! There was an even _better_ funny t-shirt shop here! This one said, _‘Blastia? **HARDLY KNEW HER**!’ _That. Is. HILARIOUS. I pointed at it and told Rita as much.

“Ugh!” Rita groaned. I saw a tiny twitch in her lip! I saw the way her eyebrows rose just slightly! “That’s such a stupid shirt.” She crossed her arms and looked at a very unfunny stone on the ground, trying to focus on it instead of laughing. I knew she thought it was funny!

Yuri was right, though. This place really did clear my head. It was like a complete reboot as Rita would probably say. Like, I don’t know what that is, but it’s when you turn a thing on and off right? It’s like my brain was turned off for a moment and then back on. I felt I could really think again! It must have been the same for Rita, too. She was actually looking over more than a few of the wares with interest.

“Wow. So many of these little toys don’t rely on Blastia to move. Some are propelled by centrifugal force of the key and the blah blah of the gravity blah blah energy and mass conversion blah blah blah—” Listen. I was paraphrasing here. I didn’t really know what Rita was saying. That just meant Rita was in working order. Like you hear a cat purring, you don’t really know what it means, but it means the cat’s happy right? That’s good enough.

We looked through the stalls for a little while and for a moment, I think Rita was actually happy! It seemed like it was the first time she smiled since she got here. It really warmed my heart to see a potential client so wowed by Brave Vesperia, you know? Plus, I mean, I guess she’s my friend and I do like to see her happy.

“I say, do we really have to trek through all the riff-raff here, princess?” a familiar voice said in the distance. The crowds parted like an ocean would at an all-powerful being.

“Yes! I want to find another gift. There’s so many and they’re all so funny!”

A deep, almost sultry voice, replied, “Princess, did you not already obtain many gifts?”

“Mm, I guess so, but I want to get her more. I want to show her I’m always thinking of her and…”

It was amazing I could hear their voices at all, honestly! It was mostly because nobody in Dahngrest wanted anything to do with Imperial Knights and especially nobility. A bright pink princess like her stood out like a sore thumb. The fact it was _those_ two knights of all people made their Dahngrest citizen repellant even stronger.

Rita stopped what she was saying mid-sentence which usually never happens. Her body went back to being completely stiff, hair standing on end. That was so weird! Rita should have been happy to see Estelle!

I took in a deep breath to callout to Estelle.

Rita practically dove at me, face crazed, saying, “Don’t you dare yell—”

It was too late. Once a Karol scream began, there was no stopping it. It was one of my best features! I won an award for best screamer in all of Dahngrest. People knew I was coming from literally miles away! It’s just plain good for advertising.

“ **HEY ESTELLE!!!!!!!!!!!”** Whatever Rita was going to say to me next was completely blown away. Possibly her ear drums too… Whoops.

Estelle’s knights were actually knocked over by the sheer force of my voice. Estelle, as per usual, was barely phased. She looked up from one of the stalls like a curious puppy. Her eyes fell on me and Rita and they twinkled like the stars that were blotted out from the cloudy skies. Her smile could have been weaponized it was so bright!

“Karol?!” She yelled back. Ha! It wasn’t nearly as loud as my scream. Estelle dashed over to us with a skip in her step, those eyes of hers sparkling ever more as a certain someone else came into her view. “Rita?! Rita is that you?!”

Somehow, for some reason, Rita had tried to hide behind me. I know for a _fact_ I’m not very big yet. It’s not my fault! I’ll get bigger! You’ll see! But that’s besides the point.

 _Why_ was Rita trying to hide behind me? Hide from Estelle of all people? I thought they were great friends!

Estelle let out a huff of excitement, giggling as she grabbed both of my hands and bowed. It was hard to believe a princess like her would ever bow to me of all people!

But as awesome as I was, I could tell Estelle wanted to greet a certain someone more.

“Rita!” Estelle said, hugging the awkward slumped over mage. “I’m so excited to see you! What are you doing here?”

“I-I-I-I,” Rita tried to say, but the words wouldn’t come out for some reason. What was she so nervous about? Oh, right. The stalker thing. She probably didn’t want to worry Estelle about that.

“Princess Estellise! I say, Princess Estellise! Your umbrella! You are unprotected from the elements!” Adecore called out, his lanky legs taking strides so huge it was kinda creepy. He quickly held out a large pink umbrella shaped like a flower. Water trickled down its petals.

“Oh, I’m fine, Sir Adecore,” Estelle said with a smile, turning back to Rita who looked a bit like a sewer cat at the moment. Estelle seemed to adore the bits of rain that fell across her pink hair. She took the umbrella, not for herself, but to hold it over Rita.

“Princess Estellise!” a deep voice boomed out from across the road. Boccos huffed and huffed as his stout little legs tried to hurry to the princess’s side. “Please- _huff_ -be wary- _huff_ -of- _huff_ -the riff- _huff_ -raff!”

Rita’s face glowed red under the darkness of the umbrella. She used the knights as her getaway to change the subject. “What are _they_ doing here?” she asked, about as disgusted with them as they were of us.

“Sir Adecore and Sir Boccos? I had to have some knights accompany me here as my personal guards, so I chose them! They’re quite funny but they take protecting me very seriously.” At that, two spears crossed in front of Estelle, attempting to bar our access to her somehow. Their X of spears was lopsided and the one on Boccos’ end was trembling as he heaved.

Estelle waved them away gently and they backed off thankfully. Maybe that was another reason she liked them. They were actually obedient to her, actually listened to her. At least now. Maybe not a year ago. I noticed not many of the Imperial Knights took Estelle seriously…

“Um, yeah,” Rita started with her usual grumpy shrug. “But didn’t they try to kill Yuri? Aren’t they _still_ trying to kill and/or capture Yuri?”

Estelle blinked, confused. “Didn’t nearly every knight try to kill Yuri?”

Rita nearly toppled over. “Er. Fair point.” Adecore and Boccos were probably the least successful knights when it came to killing Yuri.

“I say!” Adecore gasped, leaning in with that weird thin mustache of his. “Do you know the whereabouts of that scoundrel, Yuri?”

Boccos nodded, finally having caught his breath. “He owes thousands of gald in parking tickets.”

“I say, he doesn’t even own a vehicle of any kind!”

“We’re really not sure how he even did this one.”

Somewhere, somehow, I felt Yuri was probably laughing.

“Sir Adecore? Sir Boccos?” Estelle addressed them so gently, so professionally, they had no choice but to heed her. She was probably one of the few members of royalty that treated them with respect. “Would it be all right if you gave us some space? I promise I’ll be okay.”

“I say, of course, Princess Estellise!” Adecore saluted and moved far away in just two enormous strides.

“We will be by the stall that sells the automated furry swimming creature toys if you need us, princess.” Boccos saluted and practically rolled away after Adecore.

It was just me, Rita, and Estelle now. And a huge crowd of people and vendors but they kept their distance, so it was easy to pretend they weren’t there. Although, it felt like I wasn’t even there either. The way Rita and Estelle looked at each other, it was like they were the only two people in the whole wide world to each other!

Weird!

Estelle still held her umbrella over Rita so daintily. She didn’t seem to care at all that the rain was hitting her back, dampening her hair. “So, I know I asked this already and I’m not upset or anything! But, really, why are you here, Rita? I was sure you were still at the castle.”

“I-um… I…” Rita couldn’t seem to form any words. I didn’t understand. Why couldn’t she talk to Estelle? I could talk to Estelle just fine! The only time I ever had difficulty talking to anyone was Nan and…

…

…

…

Oh!

“Is it a personal reason?” Estelle asked with a slight frown. “I’m sorry for pushing it. You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No!” Rita suddenly blurted out. “I-I’ve wanted to tell you! I just… I… the words… agh!” Somehow Rita reverted to noises. “I didn’t even know you were here either!”

“Wow!” Estelle said with a giggle. “What are the odds!” She paused and looked over Rita, noting her general health. It was Rita’s usual health which was ‘not very good but that was good enough.’ Estelle said, “Did you eat the cookies I sent you?”

“THE WHAT?!” I screamed, knocking down Adecore and Boccos across the way again.

“The… what??” Rita repeated after, her voice just a tiny mew compared to mine.

Estelle furrowed her eyebrows, but not at my screaming. She was used to that. “Did the cookies not make it to you? I sent them earlier today. I know it’s far away but…”

Rita quickly pulled out the little box of possibly poisoned cookies. “You mean… these???”

“Oh!” Estelle’s face brightened and I noticed Rita’s turned even redder. “You did get them!” She furrowed her eyebrows again, this time in a scolding nature. “But you didn’t eat them yet! Why not? You need to eat, Rita!”

You’ve GOT to be kidding me! Is that why Yuri…? WAIT A MINUTE, DIDN’T I CALL THIS?!

“You… you sent these?” Rita asked, her voice barely a whisper. “That doesn’t make any sense…”

Estelle blinked. “What do you mean? Why not? I’ve been sending you letters and gifts every day! Why wouldn’t I send some cookies?”

Come ON! I knew it was Estelle!! I knew it!! Yuri knew it was Estelle! Repede knew it was Estelle! The only one who didn’t know it was Estelle was Rita!

“It was… it was you?!” Rita looked like she was about to faint, but Estelle held her hand to keep her steady. “All the letters, all the gifts…?”

Estelle looked so incredibly confused. “Um… Rita? Who else could it have been?”

“B-but you didn’t put your name on anything!”

“Because I thought it was obvious…” Estelle said with a sigh.

IT WAS OBVIOUS! IT WAS! AGH!

“Why would you?!” Rita asked, almost angrily. But she held Estelle’s hand tight, desperately. So much tighter than she held mine. And she wasn’t even going through a crowd! “Why would you send me all these letters and all these gifts when you were already visiting me every day, too?”

Estelle frowned. Her hand looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t seem to mind a bit of pain for Rita’s sake. Rita must not have known. “I, um, I just thought it would be fun. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you with them.”

“No, no, you didn’t bother me with it!” Rita LIED. She was SUPER bothered by it! She came to me for a job BECAUSE she was so bothered by it! “I really… I really loved all the letters and the gifts… I just…”

Estelle tilted her head. “Just what?”

Rita looked away. For a moment, I could see a dark sadness in her eyes. A pit that seemed bottomless, inescapable. I think… I think I’ve felt that too. But that was before. Rita was still…?

“I just, I couldn’t believe anyone would want to send nice things like that to me,” Rita said, something choking in her throat. “I was sure it had to have been… bad somehow. Like… I didn’t deserve it.”

“Oh, Rita…”

“I’m so stupid.”

You ARE!

“You’re not stupid,” Estelle said, wrapping her arms around Rita in a tight hug.

Er. Okay. That was mean of me. I could actually really relate to Rita’s feelings. I felt that way for the longest time before I ran into Yuri and the group. I was still really frustrated that Rita wouldn’t believe me, but I guess I understood.

Estelle smiled at Rita; their faces so close. It felt so natural. “I’ll make sure to sign my name on every letter from now on. How about that?”

Rita’s face flushed. “You don’t have to do that. I know now.”

“Mmm.” Estelle giggled. “I think I want to now! I’ll even make a little game out of it. See all the different ways I can sign it off as me.”

“You still want to? Even after I acted like this?”

“Of course I do, Rita! Now even more so. Unless you don’t like all the gifts? I did worry it was too much…”

“No! Please, um, keep sending me letters and things! Um. If you want to. I really like it.”

Ahhh. Another mystery solved thanks to me, Brave Vesperia’s guild leader, Karol! I love a happy ending like this.

Rita glared my way as if she had remembered I was still here. This was my story! Of course I was still here! “You can go now, Karol,” she growled.

What?! She was just going to up and toss me away like this? After all the work she put me through!?

“What about my payment!?” I demanded.

Rita clenched her fists, looking like she was going to bonk me again. But she didn’t! Strange. “I’ll pay you later, okay?! Can you just go back to the office or something?!”

Estelle looked lost. “Payment? Why are you paying Karol…?”

Ohhh, how badly I wanted to say what Rita’s true motives had been! But I couldn’t do that to her. She’d tell Estelle on her own time.

“It’s a long story!” Rita gulped. Actually, it wasn’t that long at all, but whatever. “Karol. Just. Can you go? Please?”

 _Please?!_ Rita was treating me with a modicum of respect?! Wow…

“Oh, Karol,” Estelle said before I went on my way. “Have some cookies then. I don’t know what you did for Rita, but you deserve some. I know it. Thank you.” She reached into the box and pulled out a small handful of cute cookies and gave them to me. Nice!

“Hey, those are mine!” Rita whined. “Who said I wanted to share with the brat?”

Estelle giggled. “You didn’t eat any before and now suddenly you want some just because Karol got a few? You’re so funny, Rita!”

I made sure to give my smuggest smile to Rita before turning to Estelle. “Thanks, Estelle! I really appreciate it! I’ll be at the office if you need me. You two will come visit right? I’m sure Yuri will want to say hi! Raven might be around later too, and it’d be really nice to have everyone together again.”

“Don’t count on—” Rita started.

“We’d love to! I planned on visiting the guild anyway,” Estelle interrupted cheerily. Rita seemed like she had no choice but to agree. I shot another smug look to her. She fumed. Ha!

“Okay!” I yelled back, scampering through the crowd like it was nothing. It _was_ nothing! “I’ll see you all later! Bye!”

“Cut back on that whole detective bit!” Rita yelled after. “It’s so overdone by now!”

* * *

Rita sighed as Karol slipped into the crowd. She could still hear him mutter and narrate things like, “I scampered through the crowd like it was nothing. Without Rita, it was way easier! I felt like a million gald! Ohhh, there’s those hilarious shirts again…!”

Estelle giggled. She still held the petal umbrella over Rita, still held her hand tight. “He’s so funny, too. He reminds me a bit of you sometimes, Rita.”

“What!?” Rita crossed her arms, insulted. “I’m nothing like him! Are you kidding!?”

“Whatever you say,” Estelle said, tugging Rita along through the marketplace. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere else and have a snack. I know you don’t like big crowds.”

The two girls made their way through the marketplace easy enough. Especially with the two goons at their side generally making everyone in Dahngrest irritated. But Rita had to admit, they made things easier.

It wasn’t long before they found a nice and secluded bench to sit at. The awning above completely protected them from the pouring rain, leaving them with the pleasant pitter-patter and a light fog all around them. Adecore and Boccos moved across the way, generally annoying anyone that came near and usually sending them away. It wasn’t so bad.

They shared their delicious kitty cookies with each other. Estelle made sure to feed Rita a few bites, giggling all the way.

“Hey, you’re getting chocolate on my face!” Rita grumbled; mouth full of cookies thanks to Estelle’s overzealous feeding.

“I know! It’s okay.” Estelle pressed a warm finger against Rita’s cheek. She licked the chocolate off her fingertip with a laugh. “See?”

Rita had told Estelle everything. About how she thought there was a stalker, how she came to Dahngrest to hire Karol to deal with it, how Yuri and even Karol knew from the start that it was Estelle. It was embarrassing but she didn’t want to lie to Estelle.

“Rita!” Estelle had laughed. “I can’t believe you!” She paused. “Well. I can. But! Goodness. You’re so funny. I never would have imagined my gifts would turn out like this!”

“I’m sorry,” Rita said with a sigh, shoulders slumped. “I really… _really_ should have known. It should have been obvious.”

“It’s okay!” Estelle said, giving Rita another hug and scooting closer to her. It was cold out and Estelle was so warm. “It sounds like you had a fun adventure anyways! I think you even bonded a little with Karol, didn’t you?”

“I… I guess!” Rita grunted. Her first reaction was to struggle out of Estelle’s embrace, but it felt so nice, so soothing. She soon realized how foolish that was. She allowed herself to relax, allowed herself to fall against Estelle’s side.

“I suppose I need to be a bit clearer with you, don’t I?” Estelle said. Her voice was low, warm. Like a hum.

“You really were…” Rita hid her face in Estelle’s warm clothes with embarrassment.

“Mmm.” Estelle’s hand rubbed Rita’s side gently. “I think I’ve still not been 1000% clear with you. I’m glad this happened. I think I know better what to do from now on.”

Rita looked up at Estelle, her heart pounding. “W-what do you mean…?” Estelle’s face was so beautiful. She was gentle, caring, and it was all framed together in that flowery pink hair of hers.

“The fact that you don’t know means I’m right,” Estelle said with a happy sigh. She leaned down and kissed Rita so tenderly, so lightly. The sweet chocolate tingled against their lips. “I love you, Rita. I have for so long.”

Rita melted into her kiss, melted like chocolate. She held Estelle for support, worried she would lose herself. She always needed Estelle’s support, didn’t she? “I love you too, Estelle. I’ve, um, I’ve also loved you for so long.”

Estelle giggled. “I know. It wasn’t much of a mystery.”

She shifted closer, ever closer, always wanting to be closer to Rita. Rita wanted nothing more than to finally give herself to Estelle.

“But I’m so happy to hear you say it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Estelle soon after gifts Rita the shirt that said, 'Blastia? HARDLY KNEW HER!' 
> 
> Rita wears it all the time. Karol is mad at first but then realizes he was right and feels super smug and generally teases Rita about it.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
